Like Putting Salt Into Sweet Vanilla
by Mirai37
Summary: Masayoshi Shinako just wanted to live a peaceful life. So naturally, she's more than a little overwhelmend when she gets pulled in into all the craziness that comes from being a part of the world of Mafiosos. Hibarixoc hibarioc hibaoc hibaxoc 18xoc 18oc
1. Chapter 1 Morning Jog

Chapter **One**: **Morning** Jog

Masayoshi Shinako regretted the day she had re-transferred to Namimori Middle School. She had been hoping for a quiet year yet things had taken a drastic turn for the worst instead. In her mind she had had everything set. She would go to school, sit quietly at a desk by a window and maybe make one or two friends just so she'd have someone to partner up with in PE; or call on occasion. It wasn't a hard thing to do, and in truth this was all she needed. Well, that and to keep her grades up, hopefully.

So why was Shinako not satisfied? Well for once because her classmate, Sasagawa Ryohei, insisted that the best way to start the day was with a jog around town and to be quite truthful Shinako really did hate running. It probably had something to do with how lazy she was though.

But even if she refused to go with Ryohei for a jog, in the end even she always gave in to his overwhelming excitement.

"Shinako! You're falling behind!" the lawn-head shouted from further ahead "Pick up your pace to the extreme!"

Shinako honestly felt like punching him out cold right now but she suck it up and at great cost did manage to pick up her pace. "Do you mind slowing down? Sheesh why do you make me do this every day?" she complained to her fellow classmate. It was really troublesome to arrive every day at school sweating like hell and already feeling like you couldn't move your legs for the rest of the day.

"What kind of question is that, Shinako? It's great practice!" he enthusiastically answered, causing Shinako to sweatdrop. "Practice for what?" she barely noticed she had said that out loud and it only really became obvious to her that she had, when Ryohei answered.

"For the boxing club!"

"Ryohei…I'm not in the boxing club." She pointed out for about the millionth time ever since they had started this little habit of theirs, better yet of Ryohei's. "But you could be, if you'd stop being lazy that is." He laughed soundly at this "We could use some more members too!" he added.

"I'd join, but I'm not interested in clubs."

"What? Is Hibari's attitude rubbing off on you?" he asked jokingly, laughing loudly once more whether Shinako just frowned a little. "Don't even joke about something like that Ryohei." She muttered in annoyance "The only reason why I'm not interested in clubs is simply because I'd rather go straight home once school is over." She pointed out with a sigh.

She couldn't actually believe Ryohei was mocking her about Hibari. It's not like it had been her choice to belong to the Disciplinary Committee. Well, it had, but it's not like she wanted to freely associate herself to someone like Hibari. She had simply joined more because of her friendship with Kusakabe, seeing as they had known each other since they were kids and she actually felt like the Disciplinary Committee could use someone that wouldn't simply go around beating up other students over minor things.

"If you change your mind, you know where I'll be!"

"Practicing?"

"To the EXTREME!"

Shinako sighed once more but in the end couldn't help but to smile a bit. Even if she hated running, doing it with Ryohei somehow managed to bring her spirits up as she did feel like she was capable of achieving almost anything and she was slowly getting used to it; which just went to show how motivational running with the lawn-head could be.

"Ah, now that I remember, has anyone figured out who's been attacking the Disciplinary Committee members?" he suddenly asked, looking over towards his classmate.

"Not yet, but I doubt it's anything major."

"You think?" he questioned, blinking his eyes curiously and Shinako nodded in reply "Yeah, it was only two members after all. It was probably someone with a grudge against those two." She answered. Even if the situation looked a bit suspicious, for now Shinako didn't see any great reason to suspect someone was on a vendetta against the Disciplinary Committee.

"I think that the people spreading the rumor that someone is out to get the Committee are simply getting carried away, there's no reason to assume that." She added, nodding as if to confirm her own words.

"I see…well, you're probably right." Ryohei concluded shrugging his shoulders. A moment of silence fell between the two, but those didn't usually last long when Ryohei was around. "KYOKO!" the fact that he suddenly shouted out his sister's name startled Shinako quite a bit, who practically jumped to the side. _We're at the school already?... I guess that's a good thing, at least I can go and get some water_, she thought as both she and Ryohei made it to where Kyoko was standing, waving at them.

"Good morning Oniisan, Shina-chan" she greeted with her usual smile doing a polite bow towards a blushing Shinako. Shinako wasn't that used to people using nicknames around her, even less to people who added the suffix '-chan' to her name, so she always felt a bit embarrassed whenever Kyoko did so. Still, Shinako felt that she could consider Kyoko a friend so it's not like she'd make a big deal out of it.

Ryohei however did notice this and laughed again "Neh, Kyoko you're embarrassing her to the extreme!" he was going to laugh once more but Shinako cut him off by stepping on his foot, in a rather painful manner that caused the lawn-head to yelp. "Oniisan don't say that, I don't embarrass Shina-chan, do I?"

Shinako looked taken aback by Kyoko's suddenly concerned expression and shook her head from side to side several times "Not at all Sasagawa-san." Kyoko smiled with relief "That's good to know, but we're friends so you can call me by name, ok Shina-chan?"

"E-Eh…right, Kyoko-san" Shinako seemed to stammer a bit as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head. As a rule she wasn't that good at talking to people and even if Kyoko was a friend she still had trouble knowing how to respond properly to her kindness. _It must be a side effect from hanging out with men all day. Grumpy, ill mannered men, _she thought with an internal sigh.

"Well, I'm going to go to the boxing club, to do some more practice." Ryohei grinned, practically bursting with excitement "Shinako, you coming?"

Shinako shook her head "I'll pass on that, I still have to go to the locker rooms to get a shower." _And then I'll have to see what sort of work Hibari is passing along to me again_, she added in her mind with an exasperated face.

"Ah really? That's alright, come by after classes are done!"

"Ryohei, for the last time, I'm not in the boxing club." Shinako pointed out, shaking her head a bit more "Besides, I'm much more prone to using my legs and feet instead of my fists in battle" she added knowingly.

"That's no fun then, but I'll still be expecting you!" he shouted, yet he was already running off towards the boxing club "See ya Kyoko, Shinako!"

Kyoko chuckled light heartedly before facing Shinako once more "I hope you Oniisan doesn't drag you into a lot of troublesome things."

"No, it's fine Sasa—I mean Kyoko-san. It's a probably a good thing that he's around as well, at least he pushes me to do better." She really did mean this too. She had-had to quit her martial arts class about a year ago, around the time she transferred into Namimori and she hadn't taken up any sports ever since; so having Ryohei around was a good way to keep her skills honed.

Kyoko looked truly pleased to hear Shinako's answer and smiled widely "I'm so glad!" she confessed and let out a small, relieved sigh "If you're free you should come by our classroom and have lunch with us, it'll be fun and I'll ask Oniisan to come too!"

Shinako looked a bit uneasy once more but before she could say anything Kyoko cut her off "There's nothing to worry about, Oniisan will definitely come and you already know me and Hana, and Tsuna-kun and the rest are really nice."

Shinako scratched the side of her face lightly as she contemplated this. _What do I say to her now?...Aw I really don't like meeting new people. If it was just me her, Ryohei and Hana I wouldn't mind going but…aw damn, she's making that face!_

"Alright Kyoko-san, I'll try my best to go."

Kyoko's face seemed to brighten and she nodded "That's really good to know, just come by our classroom, if we're not there then check the rooftop." She explained the details further and Shinako nodded her head a couple of times, to show that she was listening. "Ah, Hana is here. Shina-chan, I have to leave now. Please try to make it to lunch, see ya!"

Shinako waved back and watched Kyoko run ahead to meet up with her friend Hana and internally sighed and she walked inside the school.

Lucky her, the minute she did so she almost hit Kusakabe. "Ah, Shinako it's only you. Sorry about that," he apologized "How are you today? Another jog?"

"Yap, it's becoming a routine." She said and then her dark brown eyes fell on the stack of papers Kusakabe was holding "What are those for?..." She didn't know yet, but she had the sinking suspicion they were for her.

"Ah, glad you asked." He began and handed her the pile "Hibari told me to give those to you. You're supposed to sign them."

Shinako blinked as she stared at the massive pile of paper in her hands. "What are these about?" _I so knew it meant work for me…I'm a freaking slave! _She thought angrily while waiting for an answer from Kusakabe.

"I'm not sure about what _all_ of them are, but apparently some are about the recent revision of the school rules."

"Aren't those…you know, supposed to be signed by the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee?" she questioned, with an arched eyebrow. Kusakabe however only laughed, which didn't necessarily help with Shinako's mood "Well, Hibari is going to take his morning nap, and those need to be signed by lunch."

"So he expects me to forge his signature?"

"Pretty much."

_What an unbelievably idiotic guy_, she thought with great distaste. " Well, that's pretty unreasonable."

"It's not like there's a choice right? Just try to get it over with whenever you can." The vice-chairman replied and tapped Shina's shoulder as he was walking past her. However, before he disappeared for good he stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at his long time friend. "Shinako, you haven't seen anything weird have you?"

Shinako frowned by this question. "If you mean whoever injured those two Disciplinary Committee members, then no, I haven't."

Kusakabe only nodded before continuing on to wherever it was he was headed "Just try and be careful Shinako, and don't go home too late."

Shinako scoffed "Whatever you say Kusakabe!" she then moved towards her locker where she somehow managed to put all of those papers, though she only attempted that after she had gotten out her gym bag; which she had also managed to stuff inside and had already been placed there since she knew she would need it first thing in the morning.

_I swear, everyone's getting waay too carried away with these supposed attacks on the Disciplinary Committee members, _she thought, nodding a bit to herself as she closed the door and picked up her gym bag, heading for the locker rooms to take a shower. At least, being in the Disciplinary Committee had its advantages._ And what does he mean, not going home late, I'm not a freaking toddler!_

Shinako knew that she didn't have much time before her first class of the day started so she hurried as much as she possibly could. However instead of going to class right away she stopped by the locker and retrieved a couple of the papers she had been handed, figuring that she might as well start working on those during class.

She was in the process of trying to select which ones to take when she heard the bell ring and because she was so focused the sound startled her quite a bit, causing her to jump up and nearly hitting the guy standing next to her and by his locker. "Sorr—" she was going to apologize but the boy with spiky brown hair beat her to it. "N-No, I'm really sorry! I should have been paying more attention!"

Shinako blinked her eyes quite a number of times as she stared at this kid. He was probably younger than her, a year or so, and yet he still managed to be taller than her. _Being short is a curse, I swear it is_, she thought, yet the sound of the boy's on-going apology woke her from these thoughts.

"Neh, it's fine really—"

"Um, I have class, I'm so sorry again!" And with one last apology he stormed away, yet Shinako remained in place, tugging slightly at a bang of dark brown hair. "Was that No-Good Tsuna?" she questioned herself. She remembered that not too long ago he had been in a volleyball game and even before that there had been that match against Mochida-senpai. _That was him right?_

There wasn't much time to dwell on this question as it suddenly hit the teen that it had already rang and nothing good could ever come out of being late.


	2. Chapter 2 Forged Signatures

Chapter **Two**: Forged **Signatures** and **Troublesome** Lunch Time

Shinako had barely taken any notes or paid any attention during that first class of hers as she had been trying to do as many forged signatures as possible. As she was doing it she could only think that in case she was found_ she_ would be the one to get in trouble.

_Damn you Hibari and your goddamned laziness._

Cursing in her mind she just kept on diligently working, knowing that the last thing she wanted was to be bitten to death by the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee. She couldn't really be judged poorly for it, after all, only the downright suicidal wanted to annoy Hibari.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of English, Shinako gathered all of the papers, carefully putting them inside her notebook so they wouldn't become wrinkled and prepared to leave the room and head towards what you could call the 'Disciplinary Committee headquarters'. As she picked up her bag she thought to herself about how nice it would be if Hibari was still asleep in the rooftop or patrolling the school, as it meant she wouldn't have to deal with him right away.

"Yo Shinako, where are you off to?"

"Ah Ryohei, I need to get some things done before lunch." She told her friend and then added, out of curiosity "Speaking of which has Kyoko-san told you about the lunch?..."

"Yes, she and Hana dropped by before class started." He told her as a wide grin seemed to take over his face "It's going to be a blast to the extreme! So don't be late!" he told her and Shinako only managed to nod with an unsure smile. "I'll see what I can do, you wouldn't believe how much paper I still have to sign." She admitted with a sigh.

"Sorry about it, sounds like you have it rough," he began, shaking his head ever so slightly "I'm off then, see you by lunch!" and with that he ran off again.

"I _do_ have it rough." She muttered under her breath as she exited the room, with considerably less excitement than Ryohei.

As she travelled through the halls she was surprised when she heard rumors about more Disciplinary Committee members having been found in very bad condition, which despite her reluctance to admit something strange was happening, did get her a bit worried. _I'm sure there's a logical explanation…_

She re-told herself for the billionth time as she entered her destination. She was glad to see that there wasn't anyone around and so she went to sit down on one of the couches, as she knew better than to sit on the chair destined for Hibari.

You see, the members of the Disciplinary Committee had found out (the hard way) that Hibari greatly disliked when someone sat on his chair and even worse was the fact that he could tell when someone had been sitting there, even when he wasn't anywhere near the room.

For that reason Shinako suspected that the perfect had placed cameras around the room but it's not like she'd ever ask.

_But, would someone like him go to such extreme measures?..._ Shinako suddenly wondered and unconsciously her gaze started to sweep through the room. Her dark brown eyes then fell upon the door. It didn't seem like anyone would come in anytime soon so why not snoop around a little?

Standing up, Shinako picked up a random chair and moved it so it was below the air vent as it looked like the best place to hide a camera. The short girl then stood up on the chair only to realize that she still couldn't reach the vent. "What did I say before about being short? It really is a curse!" she muttered with a frown and carefully placed one foot on the chair top and then another. "I can do this…" she told herself, balancing on the chair top and reaching her arms upwards so that she could hold on to the bars of the air vent. She stretched and even had to get on her toes, but a wide grin appeared on her features as she felt the cold metal touch her skin and she finally took hold of the bars. "Got it!" she cheered and pulled herself upwards.

Her excitement did not last though.

"What do you think you're doing?" the cold voice that came from behind her startled her more than she'd like to admit and in that surprise, Shinako kicked the chair to the side, which wouldn't be _that _bad if she hadn't let go of the bars as well; causing her to fall back down on her back. "Ow…ow…" she whined, eyes shut tightly in a futile attempt at blocking out the pain.

"Well?" the cold voice now seemed to grow annoyed, whereas Shinako just grew wary. She cracked one eye open, looking up at Hibari's scowling face and frightening glare, making her laugh nervously. "I…lost something…?"

Hibari was not amused by this answer.

"Get up."

"My back kinda hurts."

"I _don't_ like to repeat myself." As soon as Shinako caught the sight of one of his tonfas she was back on her feet in record time. She kept a hand on her aching back though.

Hibari on the other hand didn't spare her another glance and just moved towards his chair and promptly sat down, thinking of…well whatever it is Hibari thinks.

Uncomfortable silence started to weigh down on Shinako and possessed by whatever supernatural force was around she attempted to start a conversation.

"Ano…Hibari? I was wondering if you couldn't sign those papers Kusakabe-kun gave me, because—" she was immediately cut off by his icy glare. "It's just that it's too much paper and forging signatures isn't right!" she immediately said, trying to reason with the chairman.

In all truth Hibari had decided to ignore her but when she had mentioned that he, of all people, should sign the papers he had to glare at her. "I'm delegating."

_Delegating? That's the lamest excuse, EVER! _She screamed in her mind but knew better than actually saying it out loud.

"But it is _your_ job, you know that right?"

"Can't you handle such a simple thing, herbivore?" he asked, clearly annoyed that she was still talking to him.

Shinako's eyebrow seemed to twitch at being called herbivore. "Why do you say herbivore as if it were a bad thing? You know there a very important part of the food chain! There wouldn't be any balance if herbivores didn't exist!"

Hibari's eyebrow seemed to arch ever so lightly, though his eyes only narrowed. _What an annoyance,_ he thought and placed both his elbows on the table, resting his chin atop of his hands. "Get out, I can't tolerate the sound of your voice anymore. You're disturbing the peace in this office."

_Rude, rude, RUDE! _Shinako was now resisting the temptation of ripping out her dark brown hair as she clenched and unclenched a hand behind her back.

The corners of her lips were twitching and she was feeling divided between shouting something offensive and her survival instincts "Fine, _chairman_" she ended up hissing and stomped back towards the couch, angrily throwing the papers she had been handed without care into the back.

"You're being too loud."

Hibari's voice called to her again, in a warning manner, causing a vein to pop out in Shinako's forehead. She didn't answer though and once she was done, she started to head out the door.

"Lunch is the deadline." Hibari said once more, and to refrain from doing something unnecessary Shinako practically ran out the door; yet at the last moment her temper took over and she slammed the door. That was pretty much as rebellious she could be.

Still, when she realized the awfully loud bang the door slamming had done and when she started to hear footsteps she immediately assumed Hibari was coming to beat her up to a pulp with his tonfas and just darted down the hallway.

To Shinako it honestly felt like she had ran for hours and still couldn't get as far away as she'd like from the Disciplinary Committee room. For once she thanked all the jogging and early mornings of practice Ryohei had put her through.

When the bell rang she was shocked to realize that she had never been so overjoyed over going to Math. She sat down in her usual place by the window and took out the wrinkled papers she had previously thrown in her bag. _Might as well do these…_

When Lunch time rolled around Shinako still hadn't filled out all the papers. She had done about ¾ of it all, which in her mind should be seen as a record. _Looks like I won't be able to have lunch with Kyoko-san and the others…_ she thought and for once didn't know whether to feel happy or sad about that.

"Shina-chan!"

"Uh? Kyoko-san? What are you doing here?"

"I figure I'd come to pick you up" Kyoko answered Shinako's hushed question with a bright smile "Shall we go?"

"Actually Kyoko-san, I still have a lot of work to do for the Committee and—"

"Really?" Shinako would never understand why but seeing Kyoko doing that saddened expression really messed with her. "I…I guess that if I hurry…it's ok…"

"Really?" This situation was almost funny if you were to compare the change in Kyoko's tone "I'm so glad! Then come this way, Shina-chan!"

And just like that Shinako found herself being lead to Kyoko's classroom where she was supposed to have lunch with Kyoko and her friends. "Here we are," Kyoko informed as they both now stood in front of the door. Kyoko turned to look at Shinako and was apparently able to sense her uncertainty for she quickly added "It's fine Shina-chan!"

Shinako slowly turned her head to face her and was about to respond to this statement when Kyoko opened the door and gave her a light push forward.

"Shinako! You're late to the extreme!" Was Ryohei's immediate statement upon seeing her, followed by a very loud 'Eck!' that came from Tsuna, who promptly backed away into a desk.

"Jyuudaime!" Gokudera suddenly exclaimed upon watching Tsuna hit the desk behind him and was promptly by his side, making sure he was fine.

"Tsuna-kun is something wrong?" Kyoko asked with a concerned expression, whereas Shinako was just starting to feel uncomfortable. That is, until she realized that the boy yelping was No-Good Tsuna, whom she had bumped against earlier that day.

She blinked her eyes but then decided it was time to do the right thing so she stepped over to him "I'm glad I finally found you. That encounter this morning has been bugging me all day, especially because I didn't get a chance to—"

"Please don't beat me up!"

"Uh?" she blinked her eyes again. Apparently her words had been misinterpreted, and not just by Tsuna, by Gokudera too.

"Woman how dare you come here and try to harm Jyuudaime!" he yelled taking several angry strides forward, whereas Shinako still looked confused. "It's always the same thing with you Disciplinary Committee members! I bet Hibari sent you to do this, didn't he?"

_The hell?_ Shinako thought as she looked up at Gokudera's angry expression and scowled. "What are you talking about?" she questioned with an arched eyebrow. "I was going to apologize"

"Eh?" Both Tsuna and Gokudera said eyeing her with disbelief. "I bumped into you earlier today because I was startled by the bell, but I never got a chance to apologize so I was going to do it now." Shinako explained, turning to face Tsuna who had been blocked from her sight by Gokudera. Yamamoto, who had been quiet throughout this laughed fondly, "Ah, it was all a misunderstanding, I see." He said gleefully.

Gokudera turned to face him "What are you happy about, baseball nut?"

Tsuna simply sighed in relief, watching Gokudera yell at Yamamoto, who just laughed off his remarks through the corner of his eyes before facing Shinako once more. "Ah, sorry, I misunderstood."

"Oi, oi, now that this is settled can we eat? I'm hungry to the extreme!"

Contrary to what Shinako had been expecting, aside the initial confusion, having lunch with these people wasn't all that bad. She already knew Yamamoto, thanks to his position in the baseball club even though they had never actually talked, but he turned out to be very good company with his constant optimism and sunny disposition. Gokudera seemed to be highly protective around Tsuna though and kept calling hum Jyuudaime, for reasons Shinako was unaware of for the moment. And Tsuna turned out to be a pretty funny guy to hang around, especially when he reacted so flustered in regards to Gokudera's excitement towards him.

_In the end it was just like Kyoko-san told me, they really are good people, _she thought. She quickly reminded herself to get some more things done in regards to the signatures so after she was done she took out the papers and started signing them.

"Masayoshi-san are those for the Disciplinary Committee?" Tsuna asked her looking over at the papers. Shinako nodded "Yes they are, I'm sorry I brought these out during lunch. I hope nobody minds, but I have to get these done by the end of lunch." She apologized with a small sigh.

"It's no problem, we understand." Yamamoto said, with his usual smile, while Gokudera nodded "If Jyuudaime says it's fine then it is." He said and Tsuna sweatdropped a little "Yeah, it's fine Masayoshi-san."

Shinako was truly happy that they didn't seem to mind but her good mood was broken when the door to the classroom slide open and in came Hibari Kyoya "Masayoshi, how long do you intent to crowd around here?"

"What are you doing here?" There it went, Gokudera's temper flaring up again as he stood up to glare at Hibari.

"Be quiet, I have no interest in you."

"What?"

"Gokudera-kun, please calm down!" Tsuna pleaded, which actually seemed to work. "Hibari you came to have lunch with us?" Ryohei questioned, to which both Shinako and Tsuna replied with looks of disbelief.

"There's room for more!" Yamamoto added, causing Shinako and Tsuna's jaw to drop. _They're so naive!_ They both screamed in their heads.

Hibari on the other hand didn't even feel the need to reply and just cast them a look that meant to question their sanity. The chairman moved over to where Shinako was and looked over her shoulder at the paper she was filling out. "Is that all?"

"Yeah…" Shinako replied rather hesitantly. She honestly hoped Hibari hadn't come here to beat her up over the door thing. When she saw Hibari nod, hope filled within her. Said hope was then brutally stabbed, beaten and thrown out the window when Hibari lifted her to her feet, by her ponytail. "Eck! HIBARI! That hurts!" she protested, but, Hibari being Hibari chose to ignore these protests and proceeded to drag her out the classroom, by said ponytail, as shocked eyes followed them out until the door closed and they were both gone from the others sights.

Thankfully for Shinako, Hibari had let go of her ponytail a short while after they left Tsuna's room, though he still intimidated her and demanded that she followed him back to the Disciplinary Committee room. So Shinako did as told, settling for being happy over still having her long ponytail attached to her head.

Once they walked in she looked surprised after seeing Kusakabe standing there. "Vice-chairman, speak." Hibari commanded simply, walking past Shinako as he went to sit on the chair. "Kyo-san, we were told that more of the Committee members were found severely injured."

Shinako froze. _So the rumors I heard today were true? _

"How many?"

"Another 3…that brings the total to 5." Kusakabe promptly answered Hibari's question. Hibari simply closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "What a bunch of weak herbivores." He muttered.

"Hibari, you shouldn't be talking like that about your own Committee members!" Shinako pointed out to him, ignoring the fact that this was the man who dragged her half of the way there by her ponytail, despite her demands for him to let go.

"Shut up Masayoshi. It's getting crowded here, leave." He said simply, causing Shinako's fists to tremble with anger as her eyes narrowed. _Why did you even drag me here in the first place then?_

Kusakabe nodded and was about ready to leave when Shinako spoke up again "Wait, what are we going to do about this situation?"

Hibari slowly opened his eyes, glaring towards the girl in front of him "You, nothing." Shinako seemed taken aback by his words. _What does he mean by that? Is he planning on taking care of this on his own?_

"Shinako, let's go." Kusakabe's stern voice, brought her back from her thoughts and with a huff she walked of the room, followed by the Vice-Chairman.


	3. Chapter 3 Math Problems

Chapter **Three**: Math **Problems**

Shinako was well beyond upset. No matter how hard she tried she didn't understand Hibari Kyoya at all and no matter what she said her words never seemed to get to him. Then again, nobody's words ever did seem to get to him.

It caused her to wonder if there was _anyone_ out there who could reason with him. If there was such a person then Shinako would most definitely like to present them with an award. And without meaning to, she suddenly found herself trying to imagine what the chairman's home life would be like. _I bet even his parents are afraid of him. Heck, he probably lives alone in the mountains like some sort of hermit. _She concluded, her face donning a quite pronounced scowl.

Right now she was walking in silence with Kusakabe and kept sneaking glances at her friend only to realize he didn't look nowhere near as upset as she was. _He's probably thinking of the attacks… _she assumed deciding to remain silent. That was yet another thing to be worried about. If someone was really after the Disciplinary Committee members then she couldn't be certain she'd be safe either. Her gaze fell onto Kusakabe once more. He was strong, she knew that already, and not just because he was the Vice-Chairman, she knew it from experience; after all they knew each other fairly well and even in the two years she was away they had still kept in touch.

"You shouldn't let something like this bother you" he finally spoke up, though his words only caused Shinako to look away from him. She still remained silent so Kusakabe only sighed and resigned himself to being quiet. There wasn't any point in trying to force an answer out of her anyway.

The silence between them seemed to last forever and the hall they were in looked as if it were endless, but after a good 5 minutes Shinako spoke up "I just don't understand him, at _all._" Kusakabe however, had a feeling she wasn't over so he allowed her a few moments to pick up where she had left off. "I don't understand anything that he does. Do you?"

Shinako however didn't wait for an answer. "He just acts like such a spoiled little child. Honestly that's what he reminds me. A dangerous, tonfa-wielding moron who's a child nonetheless and expects everyone to just do whatever he says; yet he never bothers to explain things or try to understand others!" she ranted, the tone of her voice going higher and higher as she grew more and more annoyed.

"I mean, if he's just going to take care of it himself, why did he even bother to drag me all the way there? Why is there even a Disciplinary Committee if he plans on always solving things on his own? What sort of leader does that!" By now she was making furious motions with her arms and at the end of her little speech forced herself to take a deep breath so as to calm down.

Kusakabe on the other hand had remained rather serene during her little outburst, which wasn't necessarily helping Shinako. She was annoyed and she wanted someone to be annoyed with her as well. "I'm right, aren't I?" she question, turning her head slightly upwards to stare at Kusakabe in the eyes. The former sighed "Shinako, do calm down. You can yell, shout and stomp all you want that nothing is going to change. Kyo-san does things his own way, it's best not to interfere with that."

"Spoiled brat…" Shinako still muttered under her breath, which prompted Kusakabe into laughing as he tapped his shoulder "Well, I still have some stuff to do, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure…, see ya Kusakabe."

"And remember to be careful on your way home!" he warned as he turned around the corner "I'm not a kid Kusakabe! Besides, I'm strong too!"

Kusakabe laughed, now out of her sight yet she was still able to hear his next words, that officially marked her day as bad "You may be strong, but you're no Hibari."

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful in Shinako's mind. She had left the papers with the forged signatures on Hibari's desk before going to class (and after making sure he was nowhere near the room), and now all she had to do was pay attention for the rest of the day. A task Shinako was finding to be most difficult.

Even if she were to forget about Hibari's lousy attitude and Kusakabe's words there was still the worry regarding what was happening to the Disciplinary Committee members and she could only wonder who was behind all of this. _Why did something like this had to happen?_ She complained with a sigh, forcing herself to pay attention before she was called on.

The afternoon had gone by rather slowly so when it was finally time to leave she couldn't be happier. Granted, she was a little nervous about going home on her own but it was still daytime and she doubted anyone would try anything when it was still early. Besides, what could someone want with her? Comforted by these thoughts she went to her locker doing a mental checklist of what she had to do for the rest of the day.

_Let's see… I have to pack up the gym bag for tomorrow morning, finish my English paper and do the Math homework and that's about it I guess._

She was happy actually, as for once she wasn't being plagued with countless things to manage at the same time, like three tests in the same week, so this sounded fairly easy to her.

When she made it to her locker she spotted Tsuna and Gokudera, talking to each other, possibly about the attacks given Tsuna's fearful expression and Gokudera's pleas that he would escort Tsuna home to protect him. _He's a pretty dedicated fellow isn't he?..._ Shinako thought as she neared them and once the boys took notice that she was there she was immediately greeted.

"Hey Masayoshi-san" said Tsuna in his usual polite manner, followed by Gokudera's short "Yo."

"Hi, Sawada-san, Gokudera-san" she greeted them back and started on opening her locker. "Ano, Masayoshi-san?"

"Yes?"

"Has anyone on the Committee figured out who's behind the attacks?" Tsuna asked with a concerned expression. "Well, as far as I know, no, we haven't." _Then again, if Hibari did find out it's not like he'd share the information, _she added mentally with a scowl.

She did notice how Tsuna seemed to grow pale so she was quick to correct her previous sentence "At any rate, you don't need to be concerned Sawada-san it's only been Committee members so far, so it's probably someone pissed off at Hibari and trying to get revenge!" Yeah, that sounded like a good enough theory.

"But doesn't that mean you're being targeted as well?" Gokudera pointed out, eyebrow slightly arched. Naturally, he was correct. If Shinako's theory really was right then as a Disciplinary Committee member she'd be targeted too. "Eh…well, I guess…"

"You're not worried?" Tsuna suddenly questioned and Shinako shrugged her shoulders lightly as she started to take out books from her locker. "I guess, I'm a little worried. I'd be lying if I said otherwise but I just have to be careful." She assured.

Tsuna seemed to smile a bit but then he grew somewhat concerned again "Um…Masayoshi-san…?"

"Yes?"

"How is…you know, your head?"

Shinako almost dropped the Math book on her feet upon being asked this and to cover up for that nodded her head a number of times "Yes, yes, it's quite alright."

"That looked like it hurt, ah, if it were me I would have blown him away that guy straight to hell!" Gokudera interjected, looking ready to do just that.

Shinako and Tsuna however, both thought that-that wouldn't turn out that well. "Gokudera-san, I don't know you very well but I can tell you that when it comes to Hibari, it's best to keep your distance." She pointed out.

Still, right now the last thing she wanted to talk about was Hibari or random attacks so she decided to change the subject "Anyway, what are you two doing around here at this time? Almost everyone has gone home already."

"Ah, we're waiting for Yamamoto to come from his baseball practice."

"Damn that baseball nut, always being so damn late over that stupid sport!" Gokudera muttered under his breath, causing Tsuna to sweatdrop once more. "Masayoshi-san why don't you wait with us? That way we could all go home together." Tsuna suggested, trying to be helpful. He hadn't gotten a chance to know Shinako very well yet, but from what he had seen during lunch she seemed like a nice person and he'd really hate it if something did happen to her.

Shinako on the other hand was surprised by his request but managed to nod her head anyway. She didn't want to be rude by turning him down but just as she was about to thank him another voice cut her off.

No, for once it wasn't Hibari who had come to spoil her recently acquired good mood.

"Good job Tsuna. Taking care of your friends is an important trait for a Boss."

"Uh?" Shinako blinked her eyes as baby in a suit suddenly appeared atop of Tsuna's head, causing her to go so far so as to rub her eyes wondering if she was imagining things.

"Reborn!" Tsuna exclaimed in a sort of whining manner whether Gokudera simply bowed his face practically glowing "Good afternoon Reborn-san!"

"Ciaossu" The baby greeted in return. Shinako on the other hand still couldn't quite process what had just happen "A…baby?"

"Ye-Yeah, sort of I guess…This is Reborn he lives with me back in my place."

"Ah…um…Pleasure to meet you then, Reborn-san." Shinako said, in her most polite tone "Likewise, Shinako"

"Uh? How do you know my name?"

Tsuna was now panicking "E-Eh because you see, I told him! Yeah, during lunch, after you left!" he hurriedly explained. Shinako on the other hand wasn't entirely certain that was true so her eyes fell back on Reborn who confirmed Tsuna's story "That's exactly the case."

"I see…"

"Oi! Sorry I'm late!" Came Yamamoto's cheery tone from down the hall as he jogged towards them at a steady pace. Gokudera frowned "Hurry baseball nut! You've kept us waiting long enough!" he protested, whereas Yamamoto laughed "Sorry, sorry, oh is Shinako-san coming too?"

"Yes, I guess so." She replied, smiling slightly at the idea. At least she wouldn't have to go alone.

**Shina-chan sorry! But Mom's going to have to work late again :( I've prepared your dinner already, all you have to do is heat it up. **

**Sorry, again! Mom will definitely make it up to you! :D**

**Love, Mom **

Shinako sighed upon finishing the note her mother had left her. _Well I don't mind that you're working late again, but seriously, when are you going to stop using smiles in your notes? _Shinako thought in a questioning manner as she placed the note to the side and went to her bedroom, having decided on at least finishing her homework first.

It actually took her longer than she had expected seeing as she kept taking breaks in between exercises due to a terrible lack of focus so when she was done she went straight to the kitchen to get dinner ready.

Thank God her mother had at least remembered to leave her dinner because God knows Shinako would most likely be too lazy to do it herself and would end up eating sandwiches.

By now the 16 year old was already used to eating on her own so it didn't really bother her. She considered herself a mature young woman and she knew that her mother had to work hard to support the both of them so she wouldn't complain about having to eat a couple of meals on her own. She was lucky she had such a responsible mother.

_I really should think about getting a job too though… _she thought and then remembered that Yamamoto had said something about his dad owning a sushi store. Maybe she could work there? _No, that sounds wrong…I've only just met the guy I can't go around asking for favors like that._

She was about ready to start listing places where she could look for a job when her phone started ringing and she reached over the table to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Oi, Shinako! It's Ryohei! How are you doing?"

"Oh, fine, just finishing up dinner, you?"

"I'm a mess to the extreme!"

_Then __why__ do you sound excited?_

"Why? Did something happen?" she asked, now growing slightly concerned. "Nothing special, but I can't solve these Math problems! They're hard to the extreme!"

Shinako almost felt like banging her head against the table. "Do you want me to explain them to you?"

"That would be the best!"

Shinako nodded a bit even though, Ryohei couldn't really see it "Actually, it'd be pretty hard to explain it through the phone, mind if I drop by?"

"Uh? Isn't that a bit risky?"

"Ryohei, it's like 19.35 it's not even that dark outside." She tried to reason while internally convincing herself that it would indeed be alright.

"Um…alright, but my dad will drive you home after you've explained it."

"Yes, yes, that's fine Ryohei."

"Alright! Then see ya!"

"Bye bye." She said and hung up. Stretching a bit she lifted the dishes and placed them on the dishwasher. _I'll just get to these when I return_ she told herself and went upstairs to gather her notebook so that she could explain Ryohei. Honestly she was no Math genius but she felt fairly confident with this new part of the subject, so she was pretty sure she could explain it well.

"And now a jog to the Sasagawa residence." She muttered under her breath as if coaching herself and went on her way.

Ten minutes later she was about ready to reach Ryohei's house and still nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

_And here I was, worrying over nothing. _

"Hey! You over there!"

"Uh?" The unknown voice caused Shinako to stop dead in her tracks as she turned around to see who exactly was calling her, keeping the notebook tightly against her chest.

Now in front of her stood two guys, the blonde one seemed to have been the one that called her, and behind him the boy with the glasses and a weird code bar tattoo on his cheek looking utterly bored, even spaced out.

"Are you Masayoshi Shinako?"

Her eyes narrowed. _Those uniforms… these two must be from Kokuyo, _She eyed them carefully once more. The blonde guy…if she had caught sight of him in a dark alley she would have probably mistaken him for a beast, going by the way he was sticking out his tongue right now, practically like dogs and wolves did. There was no mistaking about it, these two gave her a pretty bad feeling.

"I don't talk to strangers." She deadpanned and kept her eyes narrowed. Suddenly the idea that these people could be the ones behind the attacks crossed her minds and it made her shudder for a moment, as it wasn't a very good possibility.

The blonde animalistic guy snickered "What's with that attitude? And are you sure you're 16? You're so short and—"

"Ken, we have other things to do, hurry up."

Ken rolled his eyes "Fine, fine."

Shinako felt her eyebrow twitch, not just from being called short (a very sensitive topic for her), but mostly because it seemed like these two were looking down on her and she was done being underestimated for the day.

"What do want after all?"

"Masayoshi Shinako, congratulations, you're our number six!" Ken exclaimed with a widened smirk.

"Six? Six in what? What are you talking about?" her frown deepened "You wouldn't be the ones behind the attacks on the Disciplinary Committee members would you?"

"Tché, let's do it like this then, if you beat me I'll tell you _everything _you want to know. How does that sound?"

Shinako closed her eyes and drew a deep breath by his suggestion. In a matter of seconds she had tossed the notebook to the side and ran towards Ken who, only snickered.

When she ran though, her hand swiftly retrieved the Bo-staff that she kept, divided into three segments, strapped to her left thigh. With yet another swift movement she raised the Bo-staff, connecting the three segments and brought it down on Ken, who had to block it with both hands. "That sounds like a good enough agreement to me."

_I'll show Kusakabe and Hibari who's strong._

OCC: Alright so I wanted to thank this opportunity to thank those that have reviewed the story, those reviews were very much appreciated!:) The other reason for this OCC comment was to explain Shinako's weapon as I was having a hard time describing it. Basically a Bo-staff is a very long wooden staff used in several types of martial arts fighting. As for where she keeps it hidden…Well I based it off Nami from One Piece, only instead of keeping the staff under her shirt, Shinako keeps it under the uniform skirt xD

That's it then, I hope you'll keep enjoying the story ^_^


	4. Chapter 4 Small Clue

Chapter **Four**: Small **Clue**

_How did things turn out like this?_

Shinako didn't know how exactly it was possible but that Ken guy, really did act like an animal. Heck, he didn't limit himself to just acting like one, he had the strength to match the act, judging by how he blocked the Bo-staff blow. It wasn't even how he blocked it, it was how easily he pushed her back afterwards.

_I knew I was out of practice but have my skills really gotten __that__ low?_

Shinako backed up as she regained her balance after having been pushed back by Ken, thinking this situation through, her eyes bouncing back and forth between the blonde guy and the other creep with the glasses, who hadn't done anything yet.

_Maybe I shouldn't have quit classes… Aw damn, if things keep going at this rate I'll end up in the hospital like everyone else!_

She thought, shuddering again. From what she had heard the others DC members were in _really_ bad shape and it wasn't a part of her plans for the day to end up like them.

"Tché you just got lucky with that last blow, and guess what? It didn't even hurt!" he laughed, insanely loud which did start to tick off Shinako again.

_Alright, alright, I admittedly lost practice with the staff, it's not like I've been fighting in the past couple of years, _she reasoned to herself, scoffing at Ken as she darted forward again "I'm not done yet!" she spun the Bo-staff, trying to nail Ken from the side yet the former must have been expecting it for he dodged it quickly by crouching; and just as quickly raised himself back to his feet nailing Shinako in the stomach with his elbow and sending her backwards again.

And that inevitably led to her falling on her back again, an ironic echo from when she fell back in the DC room. For once, when she opened her eyes she'd like to see Hibari's glare, instead of this maniac's drooling face. At least Hibari would just bark at her to get up, this guy on the other hand was intent on beating her up.

"Looks like you _are_ done missy!" he laughed once more, a sound that was quickly becoming annoying to Shinako.

"No grudges between us right?" he was obviously mocking her. But, when he brought down his fist Shinako brought up her staff which managed to hold it off for less than a second before it shattered.

_What?_

Things were looking even more bleak than before. The fist connected, yet, going on adrenaline and survival instinct alone, she summoned enough strength to kick Ken's legs; which made him lose balance and allowed her to struggle back to her feet.

Her stomach was aching and she was already spitting blood, plus she had no weapon as of a couple of seconds ago.

_Perfect._

"Woman you're really annoying, landing all of these lucky strikes!"

"Ken."

Shinako suddenly looked past Ken at the other guy behind him. He was just…standing there and watching them…did that mean that he couldn't fight?

"Kakipi, cut me some slack, I'm trying to enjoy myself!" Ken complained looking back at his partner with an annoyed stare.

"We're not here to have fun Ken."

"Well I know that! You keep saying it!"

"Sometimes words don't seem to reach you, for instance, I keep telling you to take a shower and yet you ignore me."

"Kakipi! What's that supposed to mean?"

The contrast between the calm/cool Kakipi and the wild/angry Ken would have been amusing to comment on except for the fact that Shinako was still in pain. Despite that it didn't seem as though she had anything broken and she could still move._ I have to get out of here, that blonde guy, he's not normal at all, I have to run, change the set,_ she told herself and taking advantage of the fact that the two of them were still arguing took off. Though the pain in her stomach and back still bothered her and crippled her speed considerably she kept moving, there wasn't any other choice after all. It was either that pain or the one that came from being beaten to a pulp.

_This is just like that time where Ryohei decided it was a good idea to run with weights strapped to our stomachs_, she concluded in a coaching effort.

Her eyes widened when she heard rapid footsteps behind her pretty much confirming that she had been followed and her pursuer would soon catch up.

_Damnit, at this point…what can I still do?_

She felt useless now, weak and that was worst than whatever pain could be brought down on her. The physical pain would eventually subside, but this humiliation? Hardly.

Though, if Shinako knew she was up against two dangerous escapees from the renowned Vendicare she probably wouldn't feel so pathetic.

"Running is pointless!" she heard her pursuer call again and looked over her shoulder to see him lunge at her.

_He just keeps becoming more and more animalistic_, she thought with a pained frowned and her eyes landed on the trash bins near her.

_That could work, _was her only thought as she took hold of the lid and threw it straight at Ken. At the distance they were both in, she highly doubted she'd miss and being in mid-air Ken would surely have a tough time dodging it.

The bang she heard confirmed this, yet, Ken had just shrugged it off again, having protected his face with both arms.

But that didn't mean Shinako would just give him time to recover. This was a golden chance after all.

She threw one of the half of the broken Bo-staff towards him, knowing full well that Ken wouldn't have any problem dodging or blocking it.

She was just searching for an opening after all.

And indeed all Ken had to do was bat the Bo-staff away, breaking that piece too, but by now Shinako had gotten close enough to nail him with the other half in the shoulder. She felt confident about that hit until Ken started snickering again.

"You can't hurt me with a weapon like that," he stated simply "Well, if you had aimed for the head you would have probably have a better chance at dealing some damage." He pointed out, with the sole intent of mocking her further.

Without giving her time to reply he kicked her legs from under her, and when she was on the ground he had no qualms about stepping on the side of her face. "I guess, it's over then." He began, faking a yawn and shrugging his shoulders a bit.

Shinako winced at the pressure he was putting on the side of her face and had to let go of the Bo staff to use her hands to try to take his foot off her face. She gripped his leg with as much strength as she could muster right then and then remembered something. This was a lost fight, there was no way she could win right then, so she might as well do something useful.

So, with a little more effort she ripped the bottom of Ken's pants, quite the chunk, yet Ken didn't seem to notice, or just didn't care about it much.

"Ken."

"I know, I _know_! I just was just finishing up Kakipi." Ken said in an exasperated manner, kicking off Shinako's hands and removing his foot from her head, but the piece of green fabric from his uniform was still clutched tightly in her left hand.

"What…what do you have against the Disciplinary Committee?" Shinako seemed to struggle a bit to make her words clear, yet both of her attackers understood them well.

"This has nothing to do with your little Committee missy," Ken promptly replied and once he noticed her inch her right hand towards what was left of the staff stepped on it.

"You can stop struggling now, it's no use, no use at all" he added on and lifted her by her collar, tightening his grip around it. "Kakipi, do you have the watch with you? "

"Of course."

_Watch?_

It became painfully obvious she wasn't going to get an answer and was instead shoved against the nearest wall.

"Kakipi who's wasting time now? Hurry up and give me the watch!"

Right now Shinako was having a very time getting her eyes to refocus on the person holding her against the wall, but she did caught the glimpse of something round that shone under the streetlights. She still couldn't understand what was going on at all but she wasn't trying to think too hard about it given the searing pain in the back of her head.

Ken let go of her shoulder and because the pain was becoming too much Shinako allowed herself to sink to the ground and moved a hand to the back of her head.

_I'm bleeding? Great…_

"Oi, oi, are you listening me?"

Shinako raised her head upwards with some effort, only to find out that Ken had crouched in front of her so that they could be at eye level. He had also raised the shiny, round object Shinako had caught a glimpse of before in between them. "It's a parting gift, treasure it alright?"

_Mocking me again…what a detestable fool…_

She wanted to come up with a comeback but even when she opened her mouth no sound came out. Instead she just resigned herself to silence. She had done her part already, no matter how minor it might have been, she was sure it would play a big role.

"Another one that wasn't a "hit"…this is getting pretty boring." Chikusa muttered as he pushed up his glasses. "Ken, finish it once and for all."

Ken seemed to roll his eyes, though Shinako couldn't be too certain as her vision was starting to get blurry.

"Heh, goodnight number six!"

It was now 22h and thanks to a fortunate call from a passerby Masayoshi Shinako had already been rushed to the hospital.

Her mother had already been informed and had left work early because of the urgency of the matter and had been next to her unconscious daughter ever since. Being a neighbor and a good friend of the family Kusakabe had been warned of the occurrence too and had gone to the hospital as well; and after great instance convinced Shinako's mother to take some time off to eat something, promising he'd keep an eye on her daughter.

And that's how he was now in the room watching Shinako while she slept and holding the watch that had been found with her at the scene. He had already informed Hibari as well so right now, staying in the room keeping Shinako company was all he could do.

"You're a real idiot Shinako, I thought I told you to be careful." He muttered, leaning back in his chair with a sigh.

He suddenly stood up when he heard the door open, thinking it would be Shina's mother that had come back and was about to greet her when he found himself unable too, out of surprise "Kyo-san?"

Now entering the room was Hibari Kyoya who barely spared the bed a look and choose to focus on Kusakabe "Vice-chairman, where is the watch?" as usual he went straight to the point.

"It's right here Kyo-san" Kusakabe replied and walked over to Hibari to hand him the watch. He would have asked his Chairman what he thought of the situation but he knew he wouldn't get an answer anyway.

Hibari wasn't even paying attention anymore; he just opened the watch, eyeing it more carefully. "I'll be leaving then." He said after a minute or so and pocketed the watch. "Make sure you inform the rest of the Committee of this." He said simply as he opened the door.

"Wait, Kyo-san –"

"What is it?" Hibari his Vice-Chairman off, looking back towards him. Kusakabe however just shook his head and sat back down on the head. "Nothing, Kyo-san."

Hibari didn't reply and he was about ready to leave again when something caught his eye. "What's that?" he demanded now looking at the piece of green cloth that had been placed in a small table in the room, next to the pieces of the broken Bo staff. Kusakabe looked towards the item and picked it up "Ah this… the doctors said she was found clutching this." He explained.

Hibari's eyes narrowed until the cloth seemed to be only thing he was looking at, as he walked towards Kusakabe and took it from his hand. "Is that so? Hn." it became obvious he wasn't going to explain anything to the poor Vice-Chairman.

"Kyo-san did you think of something?..."

"This place is too crowded."

_He's dodging the question, _Kusakabe thought as he watched Hibari disappear through the door. _It really is impossible to read him, _he concluded with a small sigh.

His eyes then fall back on Shinako and his whole expression softened "At least if you were awake you could tell us the culprit." He ended up murmuring to Shinako's unconscious figure, ignorant for the moment of the importance that piece of cloth Hibari had taken had. 


	5. Chapter 5 Stand Up Again

Chapter **Five**: **Stand** Up Again

"Shina-chan!"

_Uh?_

Shinako squinted her eyes feeling as if the light in the room had momentarily blinded her. "Shina-chan, how are you feeling?"

"Ky-Kyoko?"

"Ah, I'm so glad you're awake!"

Shinako blinked her eyes slowly as she tried to process her current surroundings along with Kyoko's smiling face. She turned her head to the side and her eyes fell upon the table with the pieces of broken Bo staff and immediately she became aware of her situation.

_Ah damn, I lost_, she thought with a defeated look as her mind started to flashback towards the fight from a few hours ago. She was surprised at how vivid some of the details were and one in particular stood out in her mind.

"Where's the piece of cloth?"

"Uh?" Kyoko looked confused and then panicked as she noticed the grimace on Shina's face when the former tried to stand up. "Shina-chan! You're bruised pretty bad you shouldn't be trying to stand up like that!" she lectured.

Shinako on the other hand didn't seem like she was listening to her concerned warnings "Kyoko-san, where's the piece of green cloth? I had one me right?"

"I…I wouldn't know, I just got here from visiting Oniisan, but I didn't see any cloth on the table…"

Shinako's face fell at her words. Did that mean that not only she had lost but had also failed to bring a decent clue with her?

_Useless, useless, useless! _She repeated, mentally beating herself up over that fact until she noticed something was off in that sentence. "Oniisan? Is Ryohei here? Did they get him too?"

"Get him? Shina-chan what are you talking about?" Kyoko questioned and chuckled a bit "Oniisan is here because he was a dummy and fell of a chimney. Apparently he had a really bad sprain." She explained and said explanation was so unbelievably crazy that it made Shinako's head hurt again.

_That…that doesn't make any sense Kyoko-san! _She concluded, but knew better than to smack her forehead. "Ah, but I have some bad news for you Shina-chan…" Kyoko's face turned serious and that alone showed something bad had happened, which only worried Shinako more. Nevertheless she stayed quiet despite all the anxiety building up inside her.

"It's Kusakabe-san…he was found today…apparently he came here earlier today to check on the injured and was beat up as soon as he left the hospital" she murmured and cringed at the well-beyond shocked look on Shinako's face.

"Kusakabe? Vice-chairman, Kusakabe Tetsuya?"

Kyoko just gave her a silent nod and feeling her head spinning Shinako laid back down on the bed.

_Impossible, how could they have gotten to Kusakabe of all people?_

And not just that. Shinako did that Kyoko had said Kusakabe had come to check on the injured which could only mean that she wasn't the only one here.

But with Kusakabe now in the hospital as well the last person she could warn about the Kokuyo students was Chairman Hibari Kyoya himself.

"Kyoko-san, and what about Hibari?"

"I don't know that, I haven't been to school today but if he had been caught I think the rumors would go around pretty fast."

Shinako couldn't believe it but for once she was relieved to hear that Hibari was alright. Heck, as much as she'd hate to admit it Hibari _was_ quite possibly the strongest student in the whole school and if there was anyone she could picture beating those two it was him.

"Although…there was this rumor going around that he had gone to find whoever was responsible, someone said that he had found a clue." Kyoko added on "But if he really went, he hasn't comeback yet…"

It seemed as though every time Shinako's hopes raised they were then stomped on by what Kyoko kept adding. She said that Hibari had found a clue and that prompted Shina to think that maybe he had come across the piece of green cloth and that was why the item was missing. If that was the case and the clue did help Hibari figure out who was behind this whole mess then he would have most likely already gone to beat up the culprits; yet according to Kyoko no one had seen him yet.

_No way, there's no way that guy got beaten, _she told herself, _He's probably napping on the rooftop as we speak._

No matter what, Shinako refused to believe that Hibari of all people could be defeated. Kusakabe she could understand but Hibari? That was too unbelievable.

"Kyoko-san, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure, anything Shina-chan!" she answered right away, donning a bright smile that brought some relief into Shinako. "I don't know if my mom brought me new clothes, but she tends to forget important things when she's distressed, could you bring me something new to wear if it's not too much to ask?"

Kyoko only nodded as she stood up "Of course Shina-chan, I'll be back right away!" she exclaimed, waving goodbye as she closed the door.

As soon as Kyoko left Shinako tried to stand once more. It hurt at first, not as much as the first time because she was being careful now and slowly but surely she raised herself back to her feet. Curious as to how her wounds where, she lifted the sweater she had been changed into only to grimace.

"Uau my stomach is ten different shades of purple, lovely." She muttered sarcastically under her breath. She was admittedly exaggerating as it wasn't obviously ten shades. Just about three or four at most.

Shinako looked towards the pieces of the broken Bo-staff and frowned deeply as she realized it was broken beyond repair. She forced herself to look away from it, in an attempt at not reviving memories from the fight, and instead chose to focus on the bag she recognized as her own, and guessed her mother had brought it.

She dug through her things until she found her cell phone. _Time to check on whether or not the rumors about Hibari are true or not…_

If it turned out that they weren't true and she had just disturbed Hibari's sleep or whatever it was he was doing, she was certain she'd be bitten to death; which wasn't such a welcoming thought for someone who had been beaten up a couple of hours ago.

_Aw God, I don't know what's worse now…, _she thought shaking her head slightly.

You could say Shinako was about 98% sure that Hibari was alright. She was sure that Kyoko, who had been worried about her brother and had stayed in his room most of the time, had misheard the rumors. She was 98% sure that Hibari hadn't found the culprits yet and that she'd be bitten to death for having called him and disturbed whatever it was he was doing.

She was sure about all of this, yet she couldn't have been more mistaken. Because right now Hibari was in far worse condition that she had been, after being subjected to the effects of the sakura-kura disease that had caused him to fall victim to Rokudo Mukuro's.

"Hn? You must be thinking that you could beat me if the sakura weren't here, kufufu" Mukuro began speaking in a calm, yet taunting tone as he stared down at the already badly beaten Hibari "That however is a misunderstanding. I've encountered many strong men like you before and I've sent them all to a place…" he paused for a mere second, in which the hair covering his right eye was brushed to the side, revealing the unnatural red color. "Very similar to Hell."

He laughed his trademark laugh before stepping over to Hibari once more, ignoring Fuuta who watched the whole thing "Let's continue shall we?"

Hibari could only glare in his present condition. He wasn't someone who would forget about this, no, he'd definitely get his revenge and right now all he had to do was endure this and wait for the right time.

"_Midori tanabiku namimori, nodainaku shounaku nami ga ii"_

Hibari's eyes widened only slightly and only for a fraction of a second as they moved towards his phone, laying on the floor after having fallen out of his pocket thanks to the beating Mukuro had put him through.

"Oya, looks like someone is calling you, kufufu" Mukuro commented in a light tone of voice as he moved away from the chairman to pick up the black phone "Oya, Masayoshi Shinako…ah, it's number six!" he added with the usual 'kufufu' laugh as he recalled the list in which the names of the strongest fighters in Namimori were featured.

"I'm surprise that she's up and about again, but maybe that's just because Ken went easy on her, she is just a girl after all." He began speaking to the sound of the Namimori school anthem, while watching Hibari's expression. Surprise seemed to cross the perfect's eyes as well, but it was impossible to tell. Besides, if it was ever there it had disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

Mukuro on the other hand, now stood next to Hibari and dangled the phone above his face "Shall I answer? Do you want to give out any last words? I haven't quite decided yet if I'm going to let you rot in one of the rooms downstairs or if I'll beat you to death…then again a more creative idea might come to me; but what I can promise is you won't leave this place alive" Mukuro continued to speak with a calm, yet sinister smile, tilting his head slightly to the side as he kept his eyes on Hibari's face "So you might want to consider giving out some last words."

His words didn't seem to have any effect on Hibari, who simply continued to glare at Mukuro and the phone. He already felt humiliated enough and wasn't about to diminish himself further by actually answering this guy.

"No? Alright then," he ended up saying, after decided he had waited long enough for a reply from Hibari and simply threw the phone out the window. "Now that there are no more interruptions we can continue, kufufu"

Shinako chewed on the inside of her cheek with unease upon noticing that Hibari wasn't picking up.

_This doesn't necessarily mean the worst, I mean, he could very well be ignoring me, which wouldn't be surprising at all_, she thought and saved her phone back in the bag.

"But Kyoko-san…I wonder how long she'll take?..." she was starting to become uneasy about this whole thing and she didn't really want to waste more time. She needed to check for herself if Hibari had or hadn't gone to find the culprits and she needed to find someone that would explain to her what exactly was going on. She had that right after all.

So, without thinking too much on what she was about to do she left her room and went in search of Ryohei's room.

Thankfully they were in the same corridor so it didn't take her long to find it.

"Yo Shinako, feeling better?" Ryohei had greeted her with so much excitement that it was hard for her to associate that tone of voice to his bandaged figure laying in bed.

"I guess, you got caught too?"

"Yeah, right this morning." He told her, pausing for a moment as he took in a deep breath "Shinako, I'm really sorry. If I hadn't asked you to come over to explain those Math problems you wouldn't have been caught!" he apologized with a serious stare.

Shinako on the other hand simply shook her head "It's fine Ryohei, I have a feeling that sooner or later I would have been caught anyway. But, I do have a question for you, that's your school uniform right?"

When Shinako asked him about his uniform Ryohei was a little…confused to say the least but he nodded nonetheless "Um, yeah, why?"

Shinako simply smiled a little "Nothing, I'm just going to borrow it." She informed and without asking for permission picked it up.

"Wa-Wait a minute! You can't take my uniform! Besides why do you need it?"

"I was discharged."

"What? I want to be discharged too! That's unfair to the extreme!"

"Yeah…well, I'll return this to you whenever I get the change. Thanks!" she exclaimed, already rushing out the door before the lawn head could protest. She did hear some of his complaints even after she had locked the door.

_And now I find a place to change…_

It was only after she had changed that Shinako came to understand how significant the difference in height between her and Ryohei were. His uniform just looked ridiculously big on her yet this was the best she could manage right now.

She rushed outside as fast she could which wasn't that great of a speed thanks to the injuries she was still supposed to be healing.

She remembered how last night she had ran quite a lot but back there she had been going pretty much on adrenaline alone and right now she didn't have that so she could move at a pace that was only a bit faster than fast paced walking.

Because of this it took her longer than what it normally would take to get to the school and as soon as she made it there she instinctively looked at the rooftop even though she knew that from where she was she wouldn't be able to see anything.

So instead of wasting more time she went inside the school building, headed straight for the Disciplinary Committee room where she hoped she'd find Hibari and finally be able to tell who the culprits where.

"Hibari?" she called as soon as she reached the room yet it was empty, causing her to frown.

_I guess the rooftop is the next place to search in…_

"Shina-chawn!"

"?" she exclaimed, instantly stepping aside to avoid him "Shina-chawn," Shamal began as he took her hand in a really dramatic manner, with an equally over-dramatic look in his eyes "You don't have to worry, is here to protect you from now on!"

Shinako sweatdropped as she slowly slipped her hand away from his and stepped further to the side "Eh, thanks, but no. Listen, Dr. Shamal have you seen Hibari?"

"Hibari, that fearsome Chairman?" he asked, yet Shinako didn't have to confirm it for him "I hear he's already gone to Kokuyo Land to beat up the culprits, but hasn't returned yet."

At that moment Shinako felt herself become light headed again "H-how did he find out?"

Shamal simply shrugged his shoulders "No idea."

Shinako on the other hand only frowned at that answer. This was one of those times where Hibari should have been delegating tasks. Even if he didn't like crowds he should have none better than to barge into unknown, enemy territory on his own and if he hadn't come back yet…well, that couldn't be a very good sign.

"Alright, thank you ." she said, doing a polite bow before looking up at the older man once more "Can I ask for a favor though?"

"Anything for my precious Shina-chawn!" he exclaimed, little hearts practically popping out of his eyes. Shinako sweatdropped once more and nodded a bit "I was wondering if you had any pain-killers, anything to help with my bruised stomach."

In what was probably one of the most awkward moments in her life Shinako did manage to get Shamal to give her something for the pain, which allowed her to pick up her pace a little more. And thanks to her insistence he also told her that there was a particular group of people that could help her.

"Sawada-san!"

"Eh? Masayoshi-san?" Tsuna exclaimed upon seeing Shinako running towards him. She still didn't look that great, as her forehead was still bandaged and she had a couple of cuts on her cheek as well; plus Ryohei's baggy clothing didn't help either.

"Masayoshi-san what are you doing here, shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Tsuna exclaimed once more sounding a bit panicked.

"I want to go with you guys to Kokuyo Land." She told him simply, managing a smile in between several taking deep breaths.

"EH? You can't! You just got out of the hospital!"

"Jyuudaime is right, just leave this to us!" Gokudera added on, causing Shinako to frown as she stood up right now "Listen, Sawada-san, Gokudera-san, Yamamoto-san, Reborn-san, I'm going to Kokuyo Land either way, the difference is that I'll either go with you or alone and the only reason why I came to see you is because I know my odds are better if I'm accompanied; but if in the end I have to go alone…I will" she spoke truthfully.

Tsuna was panicked, Gokudera was annoyed, Reborn looked pleased enough and Yamamoto just laughed like usual "I don't have any problems, it'll be fun Shinako-san, we're playing Mafia with another school!"

"Uh?" Shinako blinked her eyes at him "Playing…Mafia?" Now she was lost. Tsuna simply shook his head a number of times "I'll explain it better to you on the way there…" he assured.

"But, why do you want to go so badly?" This time the question came from Reborn, so after hearing out Tsuna, Shinako turned to him to give him his full attention "I have to rescue my Chairman. Even if sometimes I'm not proud of it, I [i]am[/i] a part of the Disciplinary Committee and since Kusakabe-kun and Hibari are out, I'm the only one who can restore the honor and pride of the DC" she stated simply "Plus, it would be very satisfying to show Hibari he's not all powerful and that even he needs help once in a while." She added, with a seemingly innocent smile.

_Is__ that__ the real reason?_ Tsuna practically screamed in his mind while raising his hands to his head. Reborn on the other hand looked happy enough with that answer. "That's fine, but you can't go without a weapon," he said and pulled out another Bo-staff from hammer-space and tossed it over to her. "Uh? Another Bo-staff, thank you Reborn-san!" she exclaimed but then after the excitement of getting a new staff passed she looked up with a suspicious stare "But, why do you have a Bo-staff?..."

"That's a secret!"

_That's a very suspicious answer!_ Shinako and Tsuna both thought at exactly the same time.

"Ah, who is this?" Shinako blinked her eyes and looked up at a woman with pinkish hair " And I'm going too, after all I'm worried about Hayato."

"Bi-Bianchi!" was all Gokudera managed to say before he held on to his stomach, causing Shinako to became rather confused. "Eh, Sawada-san?"

"Yes?"

"You'll explain this too right?..."

Tsuna only gave a solemn nod of his head "I will."


	6. Chapter 6 Same Old

((Eh, so sorry for the late update x_x School has kept me busy :s Anyway, for this chapter I'm switching the viewpoint so instead of writing in third person it'll be all written through Shina-chan's perspective. It's really just something I'd like to try out to see if it's better compared to the third person one. Anyway, hope you enjoy :D ))

Chapter **Six**: **Same** Old

"Masayoshi-san, how's your arm? Are you sure you're alright?" I looked up, facing Tsuna who stared at me with a concerned expression and could only smile a little, nodding my head in a reassuring manner. Maybe it had been reckless for me to come here...After all I'm not fully healed up and even with Shamal's painkillers I can't be at a 100%... not to mention that fight we just head outside.

Tsuna still didn't look that convinced so I decided to change the subject. "More importantly, are you sure Yamamoto and Lanchia will be alright outside?"

"You should be more concerned about what will happen right now, Shinako." Reborn stated simply, only looking back slightly towards me before facing the dark hallway again. "Those two will be alright."

Now, I didn't know _why _I felt reassured by what a baby said, I don't even know _why_ a baby is in this dangerous place to begin with, but Tsuna already told me not to worry about him as he could take care of himself. Um, fine. I'll believe that I guess...It's not like I have a choice.

I looked down towards the ground again. Somehow this place feels like a haunted house of sorts...I just keep wondering when a ghost will try to take over my body...Jesus, Hibari why the hell did you have to get dragged into a place like this?

"Masayoshi-san?"

"Yes?"

"Are you worried about Hibari-san?"

"Eh?" I hadn't even realized it but I was actually clutching his cell phone right now. "Of course not! But he is the Chairman of the Committee, and he and Kusakabe-kun are out so I have to take responsibility. That's just it. I'm not worried at all!"

Bianchi, meaning Gokudera's sister as I had recently learned, chuckled quietly to herself. "That's a suspiciously specific denial."

I huffed, looking away from her with a slight frown on my face "Well it was a specific question." I muttered under my breath, earning myself some more chuckling, not just from her but from Tsuna as well.

After a while we feel in silence once more. No matter how hard I pushed my ears the only sounds I could catch on to where our footsteps, which made me wonder if there really was anyone else in this place.

"This is it."

I couldn't have guessed how many minutes had passed since we had been silent but all I know is that we all suddenly stopped by Bianchi's words as she gestured towards a flight of...eh, not so intact stairs. "Mukuro must be one floor above us, but these stairs have been destroyed."

"He must be prepared to fight us then."

"Re-Reborn, what does that mean?"

Tsuna was nervous, that much was obvious but then again so was I. I was honestly scared, but who wouldn't be? Bloodthirsty people like Hibari don't count.

"They're reducing the number of entrances we can use to reach them, so that'll be easier to spot us and finish us off. Of course, it also leaves them with less places to run too."

Wow, for a baby he knew a lot about strategies didn't he? "Then, there must an intact flight of stairs right? We just have to find it then."

Jesus, I sound a lot more confident than I actually am... No, no point in thinking like this. I can't let myself become a burden right now. After all, I was the one that wanted to come, no one forced me, the decision was mine and now I'll definitely have to live up to it!

After a while of searching for an intact flight of stairs, Tsuna pointed out the stairway that we were looking for. The emergency stairs. But, as Reborn had predicted they weren't going to let us simply go up without a fight.

Yeah, you guessed it. That weird guy with the beanie and bar code tattooed on his face was there again.

I frowned once more, preparing my newly acquired Bo staff, courtesy of Reborn. This one was actually different from the last one...It felt heavier. As far as I could tell, this one wasn't as flexible as my old one but at the same time wouldn't break so easily so I was definitely thankful for that.

And reacting first than the rest of us, Gokudera covered the place in smoke giving us a chance to escape.

I had never seen him fight but Tsuna said he had ranked number three which meant he was strong and yet he too had been defeated. Just how strong could these guys get? Ugh, I swear it's ridiculous!

"Bianchi-san, you don't have to worry about Gokudera." I assured her as I too got into a more offensive stance "I'll stay here with him and we'll catch up in a moment."

"Ma-Masayoshi-san are you really sure about that?"

"You know, you can just call me Shinako." I had no idea why I said that but I did. It wasn't just out of distaste for my surname but, this guy has been concerned about my health ever since he saw me return from the hospital so as far as I'm concerned I'm willingly to see him as friend. "Will you let me call you Tsuna too?" I asked, donning a small smile.

Gokudera huffed "Oi woman, don't start treating the Jyuudaime on a first name basis just like that!" he protested "Besides, I can take care of this guy alone!"

"Gokudera, let Shinako help you out, two people have a better chance than one and it'll reassure Bianchi, right?"

Bianchi only nodded, whereas Tsuna sighed but then I think he smiled a little, though I couldn't be too sure because of the smoke and all. "Ok, be careful, Gokudera-kun, Shinako-san and yes, Tsuna is alright."

"Alright, then let's go before we lose the opportunity Gokudera gave us." Reborn warned as he, Bianchi and Tsuna went up the stairs.

Once they were gone I looked towards Gokudera "Let's do our best, alright?"

Gokudera scoffed "I can do this by my own, you can just stand there and watch me!" he said, yelling again. Jesus, does this guy ever stop yelling? Well, when he talks to Tsuna doesn't count. "You heard Reborn-san, we need to work as team right now!"

Why must I always get stuck with such proud, individualistic men?

He seemed to frown before groaning lightly "Whatever, just don't you dare hold me back!" I nodded and let a small smile slip, though that was quickly hidden. "Listen up, when you're up against this guy you have to be quick otherwise it's over." He told me reaching for his dynamite. Eh, for someone who didn't want any help he was actually being...well, helpful. "He attacks with yo-yo's that are not only fast but shoot needless with poison so be careful about those."

I nodded, ignore how unbelievably ridiculous the idea of poisoned yo-yo's was. "Then it'll be hard reaching him with my weapon." I ended up saying. The ranges we fought at were completely different. I fought at short range and beanie guy to medium-long range. Indeed, someone like me would have a hard time getting close.

Gokudera on the other hand didn't seem that concerned. "Eh, I guess that's why it comes in handy that it's two of us. I'll use my bombs to strike and cause a distraction and you—"

"Use that chance to get close and do the final hit." I completed, feeling more pumped up about all of this. It was a good strategy, now all we had to do was make it work.

"Great, you got it, now let's move out!"

Eh, I'm usually bossed around by Hibari and now it's this guy, can't I ever catch a break? Well, I suppose there's nothing I can do about it, it's best to just go along with it.

And with that both me and Gokudera darted towards a different hallway. "Get into place!" he told me, causing yet another frown to appear. "You don't have to tell me that, I _know._" I increased my pace, going ahead of him and picked out a good location from where I could stay hidden, while at the same time making sure I wasn't within the range of the yo-yo's.

I heard the first explosion and tensed. It sounded close. That same explosion was followed by the sound of Gokudera's running towards the place where I was and then more explosions followed. "Oi woman!"

I take it that's my line. As I stood back in the hallway I caught sight of the explosives by the beanie guy's feet. "Don't get caught up in the blast!"

"Will you stop saying such obvious things?"

I asked, yet didn't wait for an answer. I just dashed forward and I have to say that as grading as Gokudera can be he sure came up with a great strategy and we did work well together. The timing was perfect. The bombs went off but sure enough that guy was strong enough to stand back up again, yet, in his current condition and the fact that he was caught off guard, allowed me to strike him dead-on the stomach knocking him down to his knees.

I guess, I can understand why Hibari likes fighting so much. After landing the final hit on someone who was responsible for putting me in the hospital I actually felt..._good_.

"Gokudera, we did it!" I exclaimed and was about ready to suggest that we caught up to Tsuna and the rest when I saw him leaning against the window. Growing concerned I approached him "Gokudera, what's wrong?" I frowned, putting a hand to his shoulder and shacking him lightly.

Shit. These must be the side effects Bianchi was talking about before. "Just relax, we have time we can wait until you feel better before going on." I could tell he was about ready to say I was crazy if I thought something like this was going to keep him from meeting up with the 'Jyuudaime', but whatever these side-effects were they were taking it's tool on him. "There's no point in getting worked up, it'll just do you worse!" I added, trying to reason with the guy whom I suspected was a very hard thing to do.

Again he was trying to argue with me "Don't be stupid thi—"

He was cut off. Not by me or the damned side effects.

"You were wide open!"

My eyes went wide as I saw the freak Yamamoto had already fought literally jumping through the window and digging his claw-like nails into Gokudera's chest. He stumbled forward and I caught him before he could fall. "Hang in there Gokudera!"

"Eh? Number six is that you?"

I immediately tensed once I heard him address me. It...it just sounded so much like last time...

And what's worse is that even after his fight with Yamamoto he didn't seem like he had any injuries at all. This was bad, definitely bad. Before I knew it Gokudera had pushed me aside, as he tried to stand on his own, one hand holding his chest. "Don't be stupid, you're in no condition to fight!"

Why do these people not think?

"Shut up, damned woman..." he mumbled, yet started staggering backwards at which point I noticed the staircase. "Gokudera!" I tried to grab him by the arm to keep him from falling backwards but instead, I was grabbed by my ponytail by that Ken guy or whatever his name was. "Tché how uncool." He remarked as he watched Gokudera fall down the stairs, much to my horror.

But despite that I couldn't just stand there anymore so I used my Bo-staff to nail Ken in the side, which worked and I actually managed to break free from his grasp. I took a couple of steps back and was about ready to run after Gokudera when something caught my ankle.

I looked down, knowing full well that it couldn't be Ken since he was still standing up and cursing like mad and then I saw it.

Yo-yos.

Looking behind me I saw the beanie guy already standing up and at that moment my face fell. What _were _this people?

He gave a tug and that one tug immediately made me lose my balance but luckily I still didn't fall down the stairs. "Eh, so you got a new weapon. No big deal, I'll break that one too!" Ken exclaimed, walking towards me. "Kakipi, stand aside, I'll finish her off and then I'm going after that other guy." He said, causing 'Kakipi' to shrug his shoulders and pull back his yo-yo.

Of course, once he released it I was back on my feet and only then did I notice I had lost my ponytail and my hair was hanging down to his full length. Perfect.

My odds were not good. I was alone facing off against two guys who didn't seem like they were mortal at all and I couldn't even fight to my fullest. The universe loves me.

"Well, don't just stand there number six!" the animal freak yelled, charging towards me again. I was barely able to dodge but somehow I still pulled it off and aimed a hit with my Bo-staff. Said hit missed as it was only capable of cutting off a few strands of his hair. It did leave me wide open for attack though, as my legs were then swept from under me causing me to fall on my back.

"I don't know why you came here six, but you should have just stayed at the hospital."

Aw, perfect. He was drooling again.

"Hibari...where's Hibari?"

"Uh?"

"You heard me, where's the Committee chairman, the guy who's ranked number one!" I repeated looking up at him, whereas he laughed and stepped on my ankle causing to suddenly gasp from the pain. "Oh boy...probably dead, or so, I'd assume. What do you think Kakipi?"

Hibari? Dead? That was simply impossible.

The Bo-staff was kicked away from me and I was lifted to my feet again by Ken, who grabbed my collar and pushed me up. It seemed that he was about to say something when another voice echoed through the room.

"Beaten! Beaten!"

I looked to my side, only to see a _bird_. Yeah, a bird. I was shocked, but by now the fact that I was probably about to be beaten to a pulp all over again overcame that feeling.

But then, the bird managed to do something that impressed me even more. He actually started to sing, and not just any song.

"_Midori tanabiku namimori, nodainaku shounaku nami ga ii"_

Where _did_ that bird learn that song?

"What? You're still trying to fight?"

I didn't have much time to think about that question because Ken was already dragging me down the stairs, followed by Kakipi or whatever. Gokudera was still moving and that made me feel relieved, though I wasn't exactly certain how long that relief was going to last. I saw Gokudera take out one of his dynamite sticks, already lit. I swear, if we live through this I'll have to ask him how he lights those.

"You're the only one who loves the school anthem so much..." I still managed to hear him mumble that before throwing the dynamite towards the wall behind him, where the bird had been flying close by.

Ken, of course, laughed at this. "Watcha aiming at?" He was laughing insanely loud which I'll admit, was starting to hurt my ears.

"Gokudera..." I murmured looking towards the broken wall to see why he had throw the dynamite that way.

Words simply cannot describe how happy I was when I finally saw through all the smoke and dust. "Hibari!" I probably sounded happier than I'd care to admit. The beanie guy, standing beside me, pushed up his glasses. " Namimori Middle School Disciplinary Committee Chairman, Hibari Kyoya." He spoke, as if introducing him to Ken who just scoffed.

"What, this guy is practically dead, defeating him won't be a problem at all!" he exclaimed, being the arrogant idiot I figured he was. But he was right, Hibari did look pretty beat. "Half-dead or not he'll still beat you, freak." I stated defiantly. "Huh? What was that six?"

"Ken, concentrate."

Um, apparently beanie guy is the brains of the duo.

"I could have gotten myself out, but this works too... Leave those two to me."

I heard Hibari talk and instantly any happiness that I might have felt from seeing him again turned to annoyance. Ah, always so grateful towards others. What a lovely ray of sunshine Hibari Kyoya is.

The bird landed on Hibari's shoulder and Ken made a note to point out Hibari had tamed him. Eh, I guess that's why he was singing the school anthem and props to Gokudera for figuring that one out.

"What's a half-dead guy like you talking about? Tché, I'll take you on then." Ken suddenly exclaimed and pushed me towards Kakipi, who caught me by the shoulders. "Take care of her while I'm gone." Were Ken's only words as he put on a...well a Lion's set of teeth and underwent another transformation. And yet, Hibari didn't seem distraught by this at all. He just smirked and even taunted the guy, picking up his tonfas as Ken charged towards him full speed ahead.

And then, it was made apparent to all of us why Hibari ranked number one. In one swift motion he not only nailed Ken right in the face but he also succeeded in _sending the guy flying through the same window he had come through. _

"Ken!" Kakipi exclaimed, loosening his grip on my shoulders, apparently shocked at what had just happened to his friend.

"I'll bite you to death next." Hibari said, the smirk not leaving his face. It was clear he was strong but he was also wobbling a bit which lead me to believe that he wasn't exactly fully recovered either.

Ken groaned but before he could do anything, I nailed him the stomach again with my elbow, pushing him away from me. Normally he would have fallen because of the impact but Hibari was kind enough to dash past me and hit him with his tonfas again, putting him through the same thing as he had with Ken.

Unbelievable...how did he get defeated in the first place?

Now that we were all out of foes he stood up a little straighter and for the first time his eyes fell on me. It actually startled me quite a bit to see him with that glare, staring straight into my eyes. "You..." he began, taking a step forward as his eyes only narrowed. I on the other hand only grew more anxious. Was he going to beat me up for having lost my fight or something like that?

"Who the hell are you?"

"...Eh?"

I searched his face for any indications that he might have been joking, but as predicted found none.

"Well?" he pressed, taking yet another step forward.

Unbelievable! I honestly can't believe that this idiot doesn't recognize me! _Why?_ I can't be that changed! Is it because my hair is down? Ugh, I swear I risked my life to come and save his sorry ass and he can't recognize me? What kind of thank you is that?

He apparently grew tired of me not answering because his next move was to put his tonfa right next to my face. "Why are you wearing a Namimori uniform?"

"Hibari! It's me! Masayoshi Shinako!"

I definitely didn't want my head torn off, so I pulled up my hair into a ponytail again hoping that would prove to him who I was. It seemed to work and his expression actually seemed to soften for a moment, as he removed the tonfa from near me and let it hang by his side.

"Ah."

Ah? That's all you have to say? Try apologizing you insensitive moron!

I clenched my fist. Nope, this time I was going to let him have an earful. "Hibari I—"

"Why are you wearing the boy's uniform? You look ridiculous."

That bastard! I'm only like this because I was in such a hurry to get here!

"I woke up in the hospital and I heard what was going on so I came here to—"

I cut myself off this time. What was I going to say? That I came here to take responsibility for the attacks on the DC? That I came here to save him when in reality me and Gokudera where the ones that ended up being saved?

Might as well be quiet.

I simply lowered my head, refusing to meet with his gaze.

I heard him sigh though, "I see." Were his only words before his eyes fell back onto Gokudera and then returned to me. "Sit down, you look like you're about to fall over." He said, in an almost scolding manner and as much as I'd hate to admit it I did need to sit down.

"Oi Hibari, if you're done being a jerk I have something I was asked to give you." Gokudera spoke up, as he tried to sit down, using the wall as support to lean his back against. He then threw a bag towards Hibari who caught it with one hand. "What's this?"

"Medicine. For the sakura-kura."

Sakura-kura? I didn't understand, but Hibari sure as hell did judging by the way he was looking at bag. He was quick to open it too and take the contents. He tossed the bag back to Gokudera, who had forced himself to stand again, and closed his eyes as if in deep thought.

"It seems I'm indebted now." He ended up saying as if that was actually painful and walked over to Gokudera looping his arm over his own shoulder and giving him support. I was shocked actually and it probably showed in my face too. "Masayoshi, stand up."

"Eh? Ye-Yeah." I stammered as I came back to my feet, though I too had to lean on the wall because of the pain in my ankle. I actually looked down towards it to check on it and when I looked back up Hibari was already standing in front of me.

"What is it Hibari?" I questioned, not really sure what his problem was right now.

"Are you dumb?"

"I'm not! I just don't understand why you're just standing there!" I protested. Hibari on the other hand responded by getting down on one knee and looping his free arm around my legs before lifting me up and throwing me over his shoulder like I was some sort of bag of potatoes.

"Hi-Hi-Hibari! What are you doing?" I could feel the blood rising to my head, though I chose to think this was because I was upside-down and not because I was actually blushing. "I told you, I'm indebted." He stated simply and started to go up the stairs. "And once we return to Namimori, I'll bite you to death. Girls wearing boy's uniform is against school rules."


End file.
